Capital ships
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| Non-combat |
| Ships by faction |
Capital ships are the largest player-piloted ships in EVE. True capitals can only operate outside of high-sec space. While they can use stargates to travel (except to high-sec), they can also jump between star systems using built-in jump drives.
Most defensive and utility modules designed for subcapital ships can also be used on capital ships. However, certain capital-ship-sized modules can only be used on capital ships and some modules whose functions are unique to capital ships. The Capital Ship Modules article details these unique modules.
Capital ships are constructed from capital ship components, instead of materials.
All capital ships are immune to the Micro Jump Field Generator of Command Destroyers.
| A long, long time ago... |
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| It was once possible to build capital ships in highsec, so there are still a few that never jumped out of the system they were built in. If they ever do jump out, they will never be able to return, and while they're in highsec they are not allowed to be used for anything that gives the owner any kind of advantage compared to someone who does not own a high sec capital ship; during wars, they're not even allowed to undock. If the pilot breaks these rules, they will receive a temporary ban, and the capital ship will be moved to a station in a nearby low sec system.
Additionally, capital ships were considerably re-balanced in the Citadel expansion (Spring 2016), in particular introducing Force Auxiliary capital ships. |
Capital categories
There are three major categories of capital ships.
Capital size ships
Capital size ships are ships that cannot fit any capital size modules. They use the capital ship hangar in stations and structures. They can enter high-sec and dock without a problem. Freighters don't have a built in jump drive. They are constructed from capital ship components like true capital ships. Like other capital ships, they are valid targets of Doomsdays.
Capital size ships are:
Capital ships
Capital ships are true capitals that can fit capital size modules. They cannot enter high-sec, and cannot dock at many structures.
Capital ships are:
Supercapital ships
Supercapital ships are extremely large capital ships. They can only dock at XL size citadels, Keepstars.
Supercapitals can only be built in systems with a Supercapital Construction Facilities in the Infrastructure Hub, thus building them is restricted to Sovereign Nullsec. This combined with there being no wormhole types that are large enough for supercapitals means that supercapital ships cannot be encountered in wormhole space. (While there is one Wormhole class, K329 C4 -> Nullsec, which is large enough for a supercarrier to travel, wormholes of that class never generate.)
Supercapital ships are:
Docking
| Type | Station | Citadel | Engineering Complex | Refinery | |||||
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| NPC Station | Astrahus (M) | Fortizar (L) | Keepstar (XL) | Raitaru (M) | Azbel (L) | Sotiyo (XL) | Athanor (M) | Tatara (L) | |
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Freighters
- Main article: Freighters
Freighters are cargo ships with vast cargo holds, they are unarmed ships and cannot fight others. Freighters can often be spotted on New Eden's major high-sec trade routes. They are the only capital class without a built in jump drive.
Jump Freighters
- Main article: Jump Freighters
Jump Freighters are Tech 2 Freighters with jump drive, they use cynosural fields to move between systems, which allows ships to move around the universe in null-sec and low-sec without the use of stargates. Jump Freighters contribute notably to the availability of modules and items into the outreaches of the universe, and represent the way those items are primarily moved between empire space, nullsec, and player-staged systems.
Dreadnoughts
- Main article: Dreadnoughts
Dreadnoughts ("dreads") are DPS machines, only surpassed as damage-dealers by Supercarriers and Titans. This is achieved through the siege module which can only be fitted to dreadnoughts. A Sieged Dreadnought is immobilized, and cannot receive remote repairs or targeted assistance from allies, but in exchange is nearly immune to electronic warfare and gains significant bonuses to local repair modules. Dreadnoughts cannot deal meaningful damage without entering Siege.
Revelation
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Vehement
Chemosh
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Zirnitra- Revelation Navy Issue
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- Moros Navy Issue
- Naglfar Fleet Issue
Lancer Dreadnoughts
- Main article: Lancer Dreadnoughts
Lancer Dreadnoughts ("Lancers") are Tech 2 dreadnoughts. They can fit the special disruptive lance, which is a miniature version of the titan lance. Lancers deal less damage than Tech 1 or faction dreadnoughts but have better tank thanks to the Tech 2 resist profile.
Carriers
- Main article: Carriers
Carriers are capital ships with the ability to control Light and Support Fighters (frigate-sized drones). They also can store 1,000,000 m3 of assembled ships in their ship maintenance bay so pilots who lose their ships can quickly pick up a new one. Other ships from the carrier pilot's corporation (or fleet, depending on the carrier's settings) can also use it to refit in space.
Carriers (and their supercapital counterparts, supercarriers) generally serve as anti-subcapital ships. To facilitate this role, they have access to the powerful Networked Sensor Array, which increases their scan resolution but removes their ability to use electronic warfare modules and disables their warp drive while it is active.
Carriers are also able to equip Command Bursts, capital micro jump drives, and capital micro jump field generators. The Capital micro jump field generator works much the same way as the sub-capital one except that the jumping carrier can take up to 5 capital ships with it in addition to the subcapital ships.
Carriers also can conduit jump, taking 5 sub-capital ships with them during an intersystem jump. The skill Capital Jump Portal Generation can increase this limit by 5 ships per skill level.
Force Auxiliaries
- Main article: Force Auxiliaries
Force Auxiliaries (singular: "Force Auxiliary", sometimes abbreviated as "FAX") are capital-sized logistics and fleet boosting ships. Force Auxiliaries receive bonuses to logistics drones. Most of the Force Auxiliaries' remote repair power is caused by the triage module which can only be fitted to them. The triage module works similarly to the dreadnought's siege module: when active, the FAX is immobilized, and cannot receive remote repairs, but is resistant to electronic warfare and gains massively improved local and outgoing remote repair power. However, the triage module does not reduce the capacitor cost of these repair modules, making FAXes extremely cap-hungry.
Supercarriers
- Main article: Supercarriers
Supercarriers are a more powerful version of carriers with the additional ability to control Heavy Fighters, allowing them to effectively engage other capital and supercapital ships.
Supercarriers are also able to equip Burst Projectors, fleet-scale area-of-effect electronic warfare systems.
Titans
- Main article: Titans
Titans are the largest and most powerful ships in EVE, able to fit several unique modules such as Doomsday devices, Jump Portal Generators, and Phenomena Generators.
Capital Industrial Ships
- Main article: Rorqual
This ship is primarily intended for deep space mining support. It has a maintenance bay, corporate hangar, a huge mining hold, and the ability to fit bonused mining leadership links. The Rorqual can fit capital tractor beams and clone vat bays. In addition, the Rorqual has a jump drive and the ability to compress ore. The Rorqual does have a 50%/level range bonus to capital shield transfers and a 20%/level drone damage bonus, so while it's not intended as a PVP ship, some people have been known to use it for that. The Rorqual has a non-capital little sister, the Orca, that can be seen supporting many highsec mining fleets.
Other ships
The Orca sits on the border between capital and subcapital, as while it can only equip battleship-sized modules and does not require capital skills, it is larger, slower, and more durable than any battleship. It is constructed from capital ship components, and like other capital ships, it is immune to the Micro Jump Field Generator of Command Destroyers.
History
Since their initial introduction in 2005 with the Red Moon Rising expansion, all combat related capital ships have received major overhauls to stats, bonuses, and abilities.
Initially, capital ships had very little impact on the events in EVE. Small groups scrambled to be the first to field dreadnought fleets to bring down player owned starbases (POSes) which previously only had been possible with large fleets. Carrier fleets were also developed to bulk up the damage output of corporations and alliances with many low skilled pilots by remotely assigning fighter drones. In lowsec, groups of pirates found a use for "hot dropping" carriers into ongoing engagements to turn the tide with the properly applied remote repair of a skilled pilot. In this phase of the game evolution, titans and supercarriers (also known as motherships) were regarded as nearly unbuildable, with the first one to officially be created costing the building alliance dozens of POSes, an outpost and their entire presence in nullsec. It took almost a full year for the first titan to be revealed, and for that entire time - and a few months after - they were regarded as completely useless ships.
However, with the continued expansion of the ranks of capital pilots, carriers began to be deployed on the front lines of battleship-class conflicts to great effect, while fleets of ten, twenty, or thirty dreadnoughts could wipe out a hardened tower in less than thirty minutes - a feat previously unheard of without at least 100-150 battleship pilots. The introduction of titans to nullsec combat meant the death of hundreds of enemy ships in the blink of an eye, and alliance warfare was changed forever - capital ships had made their presence felt, and they were here to stay.
Capital ships as a whole were re-balanced upon the release of the April 2016 Citadel expansion. A large number of capital-size modules were added to the game, including armor plates, shield extenders, and capital electronic warfare modules, to facilitate more strategic capital ship fittings. The hitpoints of all capital shields, armor, and hull were reduced, and supercapitals were made vulnerable to electronic warfare, though they remained very resistant. Additionally, both a fleet hangar and ship maintenance bay were added to all dreadnoughts to make them more appealing for beginner capital pilots.
The Citadel expansion also introduced a new capital ship class: the force auxiliary. Force auxiliaries are capital logistics platforms, and inherited the role from carriers, which were converted to offensive ships. The triage module, previously unique to carriers, was reassigned to be unique to the new force auxiliaries, and any carrier equipped with a triage module upon Citadel's release was converted into a force auxiliary ship of the same race. Force auxiliaries cannot launch fighters, and instead have a very large drone bay and bonuses to logistics drone performance.
